“I am so delighted to be a part of the J.L. Weigand Jr. Trust. From the outside looking in, I was in awe of the Weigand Family and the quality of lawyer and person that comprises it. I feel incredibly grateful and blessed to now be a part of that Family — it is an honor and privilege I do not take lightly.”
Jessica Kinnamon
University of Kansas
Weigand Scholar: 2023
Hometown:
Hutchinson, KS
Education:
B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, Yale University, 2020
- Senior thesis, titled Voting with Your Faith: The Role of Christianity in Modern American Politics and Economics, nominated for the William H. Orrick Prize
J.D. Candidate, University of Kansas School of Law, 2023
Jessica Kinnamon was born and raised in Hutchinson, Kansas. She attended Buhler High School and went on to play NCAA Division I basketball and receive a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. While at Yale, Jessica was a member of William F. Buckley, Jr. Program and the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She was and remains the president of the OX Secret Society for the Yale College class of 2020. Jessica’s senior thesis, titled Voting with Your Faith: The Role of Christianity in Modern American Politics and Economics, was nominated for the William H. Orrick Prize (to be awarded to the thesis that best integrates the three disciplines of ethics, politics, and economics). In an effort to give back to the Yale community, Jessica currently and voluntarily interviews promising Yale applicants from the Kansas City metro area for the Yale Admissions Office.
After internship experiences on Capitol Hill and in the intelligence community, Jessica decided to come home and attend law school at the University of Kansas School of Law as a Rice Scholar. In her time at KU Law, Jessica has earned CALI awards in Lawyering Skills II, Constitutional Law, Remedies, Media and the First Amendment, and Complex Litigation. Other awards include the Jack E. Dalton Legal Writing Award, Best Respondent’s Brief and Second Best Oralist at the Evans National Moot Court Competition on Constitutional Law, and the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Advocacy Award. Jessica was also inducted into Phi Kappa Phi in the first semester of her 2L year. As a current 3L, Jessica serves as a Comment Editor for the Kansas Law Review, is on Moot Court Council, and is the President of the Federalist Society.
Jessica spent both her 1L and 2L summers at Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduation, she will clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Columbus, Ohio for Judge Eric Murphy. After a one-year stint in Columbus, Jessica will then clerk for another year on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Dallas, Texas for Judge James Ho.
“I grew up in central Kansas. Between my academic/athletic pursuits and the health challenges from which I suffered amidst those pursuits, that central Kansas community gave me so much. Since then, it has been a mission of mine to give back. Because the J.L. Weigand Jr. Trust shares a similar mission, it has been an absolute blessing to be a part of the Weigand Family.“